


Ludo Usum

by IceBlueRose



Series: Everto Venator [3]
Category: Adam Lambert (Musician), American Idol RPF, Kris Allen (Musician), Supernatural
Genre: Crossover, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-04
Updated: 2011-04-04
Packaged: 2017-10-17 13:50:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/177506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IceBlueRose/pseuds/IceBlueRose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kris sighed. “I swear when I said I’d call you this week, it wasn’t going to be about a job,” he began. “LA has other plans though.”</p><p>Sam straightened, frowning. “What is it?”</p><p>“Shapeshifter.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ludo Usum

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers: Through the end of season 2 of SPN just to be safe

Pain.

It was all she knew as she stared at the man that she had agreed to marry. His eyes were dark with pleasure, an expression she knew well, and she shuddered, fighting the urge to close her eyes.

She’d learned her lesson about that the last time that she’d closed her eyes.

Part of her wanted to beg him to stop, to think of all the things he’d said to her about a life full of laughter and love and raising kids together; some of which he’d said only yesterday morning. But she knew that it wouldn’t make a difference to remind him of that and, even if it did, she wasn’t sure she’d have been able to actually go through with it and be with him again.

_Robert, please, please don’t do this._

Almost as if he could hear her, he laughed and brushed her hair back. “You should relax,” he said. “Someone might think you don’t want to be here.” He gave her a smile that was all too familiar, the smile that said _Look what I did, baby_ and pulled out a knife.

From then on, the only sound in the room was her muffled screams.

 

~*~*~

 

“Honey, I’m home,” Adam shouted as he walked through the front door. He couldn’t help but grin as he did so, knowing that wherever he was in the house that Kris would be rolling his eyes and trying not to smile at the greeting.

“Yeah, and did you enjoy your trip to the 1950s?” Kris called back. Adam followed the sound of his voice until he reached the living room.

“Get much writing done?”

Kris shrugged and glanced down at the papers that were scattered on the table in front of him. “Some. Couldn’t seem to get the words to flow today for some reason.” His lips twitched and he gave Adam a look that just screamed smart ass. “And how was your day, dear?”

Adam shook his head. “Shut up.” He dropped to the couch and propped his legs up on the table, carefully avoiding Kris’s notebooks. “It was boring. Meetings, talk about how to do the promos for the new album, and they’re trying to figure out venues for the next tour already.”

Kris made a face, rubbing a hand down Adam’s arm in understanding. He was, thankfully, still at the stage where he was mostly working on songs for the next album with only a few meetings. He loved the process of putting a song together, figuring out chords and lyrics to get across whatever he was feeling in that moment. The business meetings were a necessary evil so that he could continue to do that.

He didn’t envy Adam at all over that one.

“Come on,” Kris stood, pulling Adam up with him, “get changed and I’ll start dinner and you can tell me all about it.”

“Don’t burn the frozen pizza, Kris.” Adam smirked as he left the room, picturing the look Kris must be giving him now.

“That was one time,” Kris muttered. “And I wasn’t going to make pizza anyway.”

 

~*~*~

 

The night that had started out so normally was about to end on a more supernatural one, Kris realized as he swore at the screen, reaching out for the remote. He didn’t bother looking over at Adam though he could practically feel his concern. He sent up a silent thank you for TiVo as he hit rewind, waiting until he’d gotten just passed the point that he wanted to check out.

“What is it?” Adam asked, studying the screen. When Kris did nothing more but swear again, Adam turned towards him. “Kris, seriously, you never swear. What’s going on?” He looked at the screen. “I admit that it’s a sad piece but a guy going nuts and killing his fiancée isn’t anything out of the ordinary in LA.” He paused. “Is it?”

Kris sighed and rubbed a hand over his eyes. “I wish I could say that in this case,” he said. He shook his head and rewound again. “See that guy, right there?”

“The guy who said he came home and heard screaming and that’s how they knew to go check on her?”

“Yeah. That guy’s not human.”

Adam stared at him. “How do you know?”

“When the light hits his eyes a certain way, they go silver. Most people would brush it off as a camera flare but with the recent murders lately...” Kris trailed off. “I need to go find the footage for each of those, see if he’s on any of them.”

There went his early night.

 

~*~*~

 

Sam shook his head as he neared Dean, who was busy swearing and vowing revenge on this “entire crackpot shithole of a town” to really notice his approach.

“We’ve got the room for a couple more nights.”

“Joy,” Dean snapped. “Who the hell steals a battery? Jesus.”

“Someone desperate.” Sam leaned against the door. “How long will it take?”

Dean let out a breath. “Guy at the shop said they should be able to get it here day after tomorrow.” He shook his head. “Of course this would happen in a town that’s so small they don’t even have certain types of car batteries,” he muttered.

Sam’s reply was cut off by the sound of his phone ringing. Pulling out his phone, he glanced at the caller ID and then smiled a bit when he answered. “Hey, Kris.”

“Hey, man, what are you doing?”

“Watching Dean curse an entire town.”

There was a pause. “Literally or figuratively?”

Sam snorted, ignoring Dean’s raised eyebrow. “Figuratively.” He grinned when Dean rolled his eyes. “What’s going on?”

Kris sighed. “I swear when I said I’d call you this week, it wasn’t going to be about a job,” he began. “LA has other plans though.”

Sam straightened, frowning. “What is it?”

“Shapeshifter.”

Swearing, Sam fell back against the car. “You’re positive?”

“He’s not really all that careful about getting caught on camera. Actually, he seems to seek out the camera. There’s been four murders recently and while I didn’t connect them at first, I went back after I saw the silver eyes on the guy claiming to have found the latest victim when I was watching the news.” Kris let out a breath. “I went back and watched the newscasts for the other murders and turns out that it happened with each of the people who found the body.”

“And people brushed it off as camera flare, I bet.”

“Exactly.”

“Well, we’re stuck here for a couple of days so why don’t you send me what you’ve got so far? We can head out there as soon as we’re done here.”

“If you guys are already in the middle of—“

“We’re not,” Sam interrupted. “Someone thought it’d be funny to steal the battery from the Impala.”

“Wow, I’m surprised Dean hasn’t cursed them literally.”

Sam laughed. “Yeah. Anyway, new battery will be here in a couple of days and once that’s installed, we’ll head your way.”

“You sure?”

“We’ll be there.”

When he spoke next, Kris sounded relieved. “Okay. I’ll see you in a few days then.”

“Be careful, Kris. You and Adam, both.”

“We will.”

Sam hung up and glanced over at Dean who was simply staring at him.

“Well?” he asked. “What did Kris want?”

“There’s a shapeshifter in LA.” Sam pushed away. “Kris was calling to see if we’re free. I told him it’d take a few days and, well, he offered to ask someone else—“

“Like hell he will.”

“—but I told him we’d be there,” Sam finished as if he hadn’t been interrupted in the first place.

Dean grinned. “That’s my boy.”

 

~*~*~

 

“Okay,” Sam said, leaning back. “The latest victim was Marie Akins. Evidence says that she was tortured for two days by her fiancé, Robert Greensburg, before he killed her. Robert has since mysteriously disappeared.”

“How are they so sure that it was the fiancé?” Dean asked.

Sam glanced over at him and, after a moment, lifted a shoulder in a half shrug. “They don’t even have any witnesses, they’re just going off the evidence and the fact that he never showed up where he was supposed to.”

“Yeah, because the evidence is always right.” Dean gave him a pointed look. “After all, look at the so-called evidence that has been collected about us.”

“Yeah,” Sam agreed. “Definitely not arguing here. It’s actually something Kris pointed out in this email. He said that each of the people accused of committing the murders have disappeared just after. There’s always a witness who just happened to show up but just didn’t get there in time.” He raised an eyebrow at Dean, who immediately saw where he was going with this.

“You think the shapeshifter takes them somewhere and keeps them hidden and then, what? Just shows up to kill whoever the person’s with and then turns itself into the witness, which means another person goes missing and...shit, Sam, do you realize how many people must be missing because of this thing?”

Sam let out a breath. “Yeah.” He leaned back. “We need to get to LA.”

“Understatement, Captain Obvious.” Dean glared out the window as if that would magically make the new battery appear on the doorstep. He turned back to Sam. “Let’s get a head start on this.”

 

~*~*~

 

Kris let out a small sigh of relief as he hung up the phone. “They got the Impala taken care of and they’re on their way.” He tossed his phone to the table and turned to Adam. “We’re going to have to be careful with this one.”

Adam raised an eyebrow even as he gripped Kris’s waist and pulled him towards where he was sitting. “Didn’t you tell me that being careful was one of the most important rules when it came to hunting and all that?”

He nodded. “Yeah, and it is. But with shapeshifters, you’re going to have to watch out for the little things, Adam. They can look like anyone they’ve touched, even if it was a simple brush of the hand. All they need is that moment of contact and then, as long as that person is alive, they can download their thoughts, their memories and mannerisms. But it’s the little things that will help you catch on. They get the big emotions and the memories that are really clear. If they try thinking back or accessing earlier memories, they’ll be able to feel whatever you associate with them but it’s harder to get to those.”

For a few moments, Adam stared up at Kris and then he tugged him down so that they were eye to eye. “Are you going to be going after this thing by yourself?”

Kris shook his head. “No. I’m going to do research. If needed, I’ll help check out crime scenes but I’ll have to be even more careful with that because if I’m recognized, I’ll be in so much trouble that it’ll be ridiculous.” He didn’t mention that going to look at the crime scenes would be something he’d most likely end up doing alone so that Sam and Dean could go to a different one and they’d be able to get it all done faster.

“And also remember the thing about their eyes turning silver, okay?” Off of Adam’s nod, Kris allowed himself to relax. “Good.”

“Anything else I should know?”

Kris paused and then added, “When they become another person, they’ll look the way that person did when they touched them.” He frowned at the way it sounded. “I mean, if the shapeshifter touched someone and then, later that day, the person got a tattoo, when the shapeshifter turned into them, it wouldn’t have the tattoo.”

Adam nodded again. “Okay.”

“One other thing,” he said. “When they change into a new person, they...they shed their skin, like they’re taking off a costume or something.”

Adam was silent for a few moments. “That’s disgusting when I think about it so I’m going to ignore it for now.”

Kris laughed a bit and nodded. “I don’t blame you,” he leaned forward and stopped just before his lips touched Adam’s, “so why don’t I distract you?”

“I’m never living that one down, am I?”

“Not a chance,” Kris agreed.

 

~*~*~

 

“Phone,” Kris moaned even as he tilted his head back to give Adam better access to his neck. “One of us really needs to pick up my phone.”

“That’s what voicemail is for,” Adam said, voice muffled against Kris’ skin. “They can leave a message.”

Kris laughed, his breath catching when Adam bit down gently. “Yeah, okay.”

Grinning, Adam tossed the shirt he’d taken off of Kris and tossed it to the ground, humming lightly as he trailed his lips down Kris’s chest.

There was a beep to signal that Kris had a message and he glanced over, arching when Adam bit down on his chest.

“Pay attention,” he ordered. Kris ran his hands through Adam’s hair and let out a breath.

“I can do that,” Kris agreed. He lowered himself so that he was straddling Adam, sliding his hands over Adam’s shoulders and up into his hair. He let out a shuddering breath when Adam’s hands slid down his back, stopping only until he was able to slip his hands just beneath the waistband of Kris’s jeans. He jerked Kris forward more, lifting his hips at the same time and bent his head to swipe his tongue over Kris’s nipple.

He grinned when Kris’s grip on his hair tightened and he pulled him closer. It was easy to imagine the look on Kris’s face right now, eyes closed, head tilted back, mouth slightly open as he sucked in air.

“Please,” Kris breathed. “Adam.” He pushed down as Adam thrust up and bit his lip.

“I got you,” Adam told him, shifting his grip slightly to press Kris down harder, continuing to move until Kris arched his back again, pressing himself against Adam and cried out, letting his head fall forward to rest against Adam’s. Adam thrust up a few times before he shuddered, moaning Kris’s name and dropped back into the chair.

Adam let out a breath. “Next time, we need to get further than unbuttoning your pants.”

Kris nodded. “Before we do that though, we should really get out of the kitchen.”

Laughing a bit, Adam leaned back to smile up at him. “Definitely.”

 

~*~*~

 

It was a couple of hours later that Kris managed to roll over in bed, his eyes closed as he groped for his phone. He smiled in triumph and then ran his thumb over the keys, counting silently until he had managed to punch in the number for his voicemail before he held the phone up to his ear.

“Kris,” Dean said. “Listen, we’ve got a small detour. Shouldn’t take long but Bobby called us and since we’re on the way to you, we’re the closest ones. It’s not something that’ll need research or anything, just a poltergeist that needs to be exorcised. If we push it, we’ll only be a day late at the most and that’s if something goes wrong. It’s in Storey, Nevada.” He sounded frustrated. “We’ll be there as soon as we can, Kris, promise.”

Kris opened his eyes as he ended the call after saving the message. He’d call Dean back and see if they needed him to help with anything but, until then, he knew what this meant.

He was going to have to get a head start on checking out the crime scene while it was still fairly fresh and, hopefully, before the shifter showed back up and messed with anything.

He let out a breath and slowly turned to look at Adam. Adam wouldn’t be happy if he knew and Kris knew that he wouldn’t lie to him.

But that didn’t mean Kris was going to just announce what his plans were.

Lying on his back, Kris began to figure out when he could go to the house where Marie Akins had been murdered.

 

~*~*~

 

“Son of a bitch!” Dean ducked when a chair came flying at him. “Sam, we using Missouri’s method?”

Sam nodded, though he knew Dean wasn’t looking at him. “Yeah,” he called. “I had to do a bit of adjusting since there’s only two of us but it didn’t take much. So we’ll be okay.”

“Then let’s do this. We need to get to LA.” He turned to Sam, keeping an eye on the flying objects of the room. “I’ll take the back of the house, you stick to the front.” He held up a hand as he began to back out of the room, catching the pouch of herbs that Sam tossed at him.

It didn’t take them long once they were both in place and it was definitely satisfaction that Dean felt when the house noticeably cleared.

“Ha,” Dean muttered even as he took out his EMF and switched it on.

“Well?” Sam asked as he walked through the house, waving the EMF in every direction that he could.

“This house is clear,” Dean declared in a voice scarily similar to Zelda Rubinstein’s.

Sam rolled his eyes and shook his head as they walked out of the house.

“What?” Dean asked. Sam just raised an eyebrow.

“ _Poltergeist_?”

“It’s a classic,” he insisted as they headed down to the car. Sam smirked and tossed his bag into the car, already pulling his phone out. “Don’t judge me, Sammy, at least I was able to watch the movie without crying over the clowns.”

“Shut up, Dean.” Sam scowled even as he dialed Kris’s number.

“Hey, when Kris answers, tell him that he better not check out the house by himself.” Off of Sam’s look, he blew out a breath. “At least tell him to be careful.”

“Because Kris didn’t learn to see right through remarks like that from you years ago.”

“It’s coming from you.”

“Yeah,” Sam said, “because Kris won’t know exactly who is ordering him to be careful. And you know how well he does with orders.”

“Well then make it into a question, Sam.” Dean gave him a look that said that it really should be obvious how to handle this.

Sam simply rolled his eyes. “Hey, Kris,” he said.

“Sam. Poltergeist taken care of?” Kris asked.

“Yeah, we’re all clear and already heading your way.”

It was easy to hear the relief in Kris’s voice. “Okay. Nothing else has happened yet but I think it’ll be soon.”

“Has anyone else gone missing?”

“It’s Los Angeles, Sam.”

Sam tilted his head back. “Good point. Have any of the disappearances seemed out of the ordinary?” Not that he thought the shifter would draw people’s attention that way but it didn’t hurt to check.

“No. I don’t think we’ll get that lucky since no one even realized the first victims were missing,” Kris sighed.

“Somehow, I knew you were going to say that.” He paused and glanced at Dean from the corner of his eye. “Kris?”

Something in his voice must have alerted Kris because he could practically see Kris straightening in his seat. “What?”

“If you decide to go check out the house, be careful okay?”

“Dean worried?”

Sam grinned. “Oh yeah.”

Kris laughed. “I had a feeling.” He paused. “But I promise I will be.”

“Good. I’d say call us if you need anything but it won’t do much good until we get there.”

“I’ll take every precaution, Sam,” Kris promised. Sam nodded though he knew Kris couldn’t see him.

“See you soon, Kris.”

“Bye, Sam.” The smirk in Kris’s voice was clear. “And tell Dean that I already have a momma, I don’t need another one.”

Sam laughed as he hung up. He glanced at Dean and suddenly had an image of him scolding Kris for sneaking in after curfew or something and, well, that was it. He started laughing even harder.

“What?” Dean asked, frowning, glancing over.

He shook his head. “Nothing...Momma.” He started laughing again though he managed to keep it quieter this time.

Dean narrowed his eyes and pressed down on the gas. “Kris is a dead man.”

 

~*~*~

 

As much as Kris knew that business meetings were necessary in order to get everything for the upcoming album in order, that didn’t mean that he had to like it. He let out a sigh of relief as he walked out of the building, tilting his head back and closing his eyes. He stood there for a moment, letting himself relax and then tilted his head as he opened his eyes.

It was just starting to get dark, which would be a good time to go check out Marie’s house.

Kris moved quickly to his car, pulling out his phone to check the time. He definitely had enough time to do a quick pass and then head home.

For once, traffic seemed to be on his side and he managed to get to the house fairly quickly. He parked down the block amidst a few other cars so that he wouldn’t be noticed and walked to the house, keeping his head slightly down while trying to keep an eye out and make sure no one was following or watching him.

If anyone recognized him, he was in so much trouble.

He felt a flash of relief when he managed to make it to the door with no trouble. Glancing over his shoulder, he prayed that there was no one at their window, watching. It would just be his luck for this house to have the type of neighbors who looked out windows to see what was going on.

Moving quickly, he knelt and pulled out the pouch that held his tools, pausing only once to look over his shoulder again before he began to pick the lock, forcing himself to keep his hands steady.

It wasn’t long before he was inside and he quickly shut the door behind himself. He glanced around, taking in the way nothing looked out of place there in the front before he began to walk through the house, taking out his flashlight from where he’d tucked it in the waistband of his jeans.

Dean would kill him if he knew that Kris hadn’t brought a gun or any other weapon but the flashlight had been bulky enough. Besides, he’d have a hard enough time explaining the flashlight if he got stopped by someone who wanted a picture and a hug, something that had been happening more often lately.

Grateful for the natural light that remained, Kris simply made sure to be ready to turn the flashlight on when it got too dark and headed towards the back of the house where the bedroom that Marie Akins had been tortured in.

The sight of the blood smeared along the walls had Kris sucking a breath in and looking down briefly. Seeing rooms like this one had never gotten easier for him and he always had to take a moment. He swallowed and looked up, ignoring the way his stomach twisted and moved further into the room.

It was doubtful that the shifter had changed here but Kris began to move around the room, searching for any sign of discarded skin. There was nothing that was obvious out in the room and so he looked closer to the wall, checking to see if there was anything under any of the furniture.

The light was nearly gone now and he switched on the flashlight, aiming it at the floor and sweeping the beam of light over the carpet.

A glint of metal near the closet door caught his eye and he walked towards it, biting his lip when he saw that it was a bloody knife.

There was no way the police would have left that behind when they were looking for evidence, which meant the shifter had come back at some point.

The fact that the police didn’t know the knife existed meant it really wouldn’t be a big deal if he took it. After all, the police couldn’t use it for evidence unless he wanted to help them convict an innocent man but maybe he could get Bobby on the phone and see if he knew of anything that they could use on the knife to try and track the shifter down.

Then again, Bobby wasn’t too big on magic unless it was a ritual to get rid of a demon or spirit but since this wasn’t something for personal gain or to hurt anyone, he was pretty sure that Bobby wouldn’t protest this one.

He paused as he leaned down to pick up the knife, his head snapping up just as the closet door flew open and he was tackled to the ground.

The flashlight flew from his hand and he swore mentally. He hadn’t been expecting the shifter to be here, he’d simply assumed that it would have moved on to its lair or the house of the latest person that it had become.

He struggled to shove the shifter off of him, shoving harder when he felt the press of the knife along his side. Kris managed to shove the shifter just as it pushed the knife forward and he gasped when he felt it slice through his side. He rolled to the side, pushing himself up and sparing only a glance at the spot where the flashlight had landed before the shifter was coming at him again.

Fighting wasn’t something that Kris had taken too much interest in when he’d been growing up. Despite that, it was easy to remember the moves that his dad and other hunters, like John, had taught him over the years.

He kicked out and felt his lips twitch in satisfaction when he felt the shifter fly backwards and heard the small thump that meant the knife was no longer in its hands. Kris bounced on the balls of his feet slightly and raised an eyebrow when the shifter didn’t immediately come at him again. They each shifted, neither moving, and then suddenly the shifter was moving. Even as Kris braced himself, he realized that the shifter had gone in the opposite direction, jumping out the window.

He stared at the window for a few moments and then relaxed slightly when nothing else happened. Looking at the clock, he shook his head and then scooped up the flashlight, swinging it around so that he could check the floor again. The sight of the knife had him nodding in satisfaction and he grabbed it, shoving it in his jacket, wincing when the move pulled at the cut on his side.

It was a good thing he’d planned on telling Adam when he got home anyway because there was no way he could hide this.

Moving carefully, he made his way back to the front of the house, slightly disturbed at the abrupt change from the room that looked like it had come straight out of a horror movie to the picture perfect rest of the room that looked a bit like something he’d see on a greeting card.

Shaking his head, he walked out, locking the door behind him so that no one would suspect he’d even been there. Glancing around, he noted that it was dark enough that no one would be able to tell who he was from far and he couldn’t help the small smile of relief that appeared on his face before he began to walk towards his car.

He was definitely done here for the night. It was time to go home.

 

~*~*~

 

Adam looked up and his eyes widened when Kris walked in, his steps slow, a small cut at the corner of his mouth. He shot out of his seat, already moving towards Kris, bare feet barely making a sound on the tiled entry, only to pause when Kris slowly pulled off his jacket, wincing as he did so.

“You’re bleeding.”

Kris nodded. “Just a cut.”

Adam began moving again, reaching out to gently but firmly wrap a hand around Kris’s arm. “Come on. Let’s get you cleaned up and you can tell me what happened.”

Kris nodded again. He knew that Adam wasn’t going to be happy so he waited until they were in the bathroom, Adam opening up the cabinet under the sink for the first aid kit, to speak.

“I went to Marie Akins’ house.”

Adam paused with the first aid kit halfway out of the cabinet and slowly turned his head so that he was looking at Kris, who had slowly lowered himself so that he was sitting on top of the toilet. “Alone.” It wasn’t a question but Kris nodded anyway. Adam shook his head and sighed. “You know, you could’ve called so I could’ve had something ready in the form of bail if you’d gotten caught.” He opened up the kit and wanted to shake his head at how well-used it was.

Months ago, he would’ve only been able to do the basics and, really, that was what he could do now but he was steadier about it and he had, when needed, helped Kris with stitching up a wound when help had been needed on a few hunts recently. Thinking back on how he’d reacted to even the smallest of injuries back on camping trips with his family and just in general, he was pretty sure that his family wouldn’t recognize him now. There was no freaking out (not counting the first few times it had happened but Adam wasn’t going to count those right now) and he hadn’t tried to get anyone else to take over.

Not that there was anyone else to take over unless he wanted Kris to be stitching himself up and that just wasn’t happening.

Rather than get pissed that Kris had gone without him—he knew perfectly well that he didn’t have the training to be of any use on a hunt—he frowned at Kris’ shirt.

“We won’t be able to save the shirt.”

“That’s fine. Cut it off if you have to,” Kris said. “I’d rather not lift my arms if I don’t have to.”

Adam nodded and took out the scissors kept in the bathroom for just this purpose and began to cut through the material.

“Damn,” Kris muttered. “I liked this shirt too.”

“You should have changed first,” Adam told him. Not that he wasn’t mourning the shirt—only slightly and because Kris’s chest had looked amazing in it—but because, really, who went hunting in clothes they liked? It never ended well. Adam already knew this and he hadn’t even gone on an actual hunt yet.

“I didn’t think of it,” Kris shrugged as the shirt fell to the ground in pieces, “and I didn’t have an extra shirt to change into.”

“Your gym shirt would’ve worked fine.”

There was a pause. “I forgot about that actually.” His lips twitched and then he winced when he leaned back and stretched the wrong way.

Adam looked up at him and grinned before he soaked a piece of gauze with rubbing alcohol. “Get ready.” He watched as Kris closed his eyes and took a deep breath and then pressed the gauze to the cut. Kris swore, tensing and tilting his head back, gritting his teeth. Adam bit his lip to keep from apologizing because he knew that it was better to just keep going rather than pause even for a moment. Still, the apology must have been easy to read on his face because Kris smiled at him and reached out to squeeze his shoulder.

“I know,” he said simply.

Adam wrapped one hand around Kris’s wrist for a moment and squeezed before he went back to cleaning the cut. Once he’d finished, he tossed the gauze, wrinkling his nose slightly at the smell when he leaned closer to get a better look at the cut.

“You won’t need stitches,” he decided, reaching out to grab bandages and tape. He set those down and grabbed disinfectant, carefully rubbing it into the cut before he covered it, making sure that the tape wouldn’t come undone. “Move.”

Kris stood and stretched a bit, checking to be sure the tape was fine before he nodded at Adam. “It’ll be fine.” He winced at the soreness in his side. “Bruises are going to show up by the end of the night though.”

“So, what happened at the house?” Adam was pretty sure that he already knew but he wanted to hear it from Kris.

“The shifter was there.” Kris rolled one shoulder and gave Adam a look that said he knew exactly what Adam was doing but he continued anyway. “Flew out of a closet when I was leaning over to pick up the knife.” Kris glanced down. “It managed to use it on me too while we were fighting and then, for some reason, it just gave up after I kicked it into a wall. It stared at me for a bit and then bolted out one of the windows.”

Adam frowned, his eyebrows drawing together. “Why would it do that?”

Kris paused, thinking about it. “I don’t know, honestly. Maybe it’s already got its next victim picked out and it didn’t want to risk taking the fight further in case we drew attention with the noise.” He sighed. “We’ll find out soon, I’m sure.”

After a moment, Adam nodded. “Okay. Now back up again. What knife?”

Kris looked up at him. “The knife used to kill Marie Akins. It brought the knife back there for some reason. I don’t know if it was going to plant it there for some reason or what but I know that it couldn’t have been there before. There’s no way the cops would have passed that up when they were looking for evidence. Especially since it wasn’t even hidden, it was just there on the floor.”

Adam let out a breath. “The knife. Will it do any good?”

“I have no idea but I took it anyway.” Kris reached back and pulled it from the waistband of his jeans causing Adam to raise an eyebrow when he followed it with a flashlight. “What? It’s not like they’d fit in my pocket.”

Adam grinned. “Come on. We’ll put the knife somewhere safe until we know whether it’ll even be useful or not.”

Hearing Adam say ‘we’ when talking about anything that dealt with hunting was something Kris still needed to get used to, he decided as he nodded and made his way into the bedroom. He considered it as he pulled a small steel box from the closet, grunting a bit at the weight before he set it down on the nightstand.

He studied the box for a moment, remembering when John Winchester had given it to him, telling him to keep the important things in there, especially stuff he wanted to guard against demons. The top was engraved with a devil’s trap and he knew that if he looked at the bottom on the inside of the box, it would also be engraved with a devil’s trap. Other protective sigils were carved all over the box and inside of it.

“It’ll be safe in here until we can figure out what we can use it for.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. Nothing supernatural is getting through this. The devil’s traps work great for demons but these protective sigils will stop anything else from getting in there.”

“Shifter included?”

“Yeah. Shifter included.”

Adam walked over and stared down at the box, tracing the symbols with his finger. The knife took up a good portion of the box, blocking his view of what was in there but he was more curious about the engravings.

“Do you know what they all mean?”

Kris nodded. “I’ll have to tell you sometime,” he said. He let out a breath as he closed the box. “Sam and Dean’s dad gave this to me when I was fourteen. He’d noticed that I was taking an interest in the research side of things and usually when that happens, hunters come to you for help in hiding or protecting things. He thought I’d need this. I’ve used it for all sorts of things over the years; whether it was just something stupid I wanted to lock away from Daniel to locking away some sort of artifact or whatever that needed to be hidden until it could be destroyed. No one’s ever gotten through the sigils before so I know the knife will be fine in here.”

“Then put it away,” Adam told him and Kris knew he meant more than just the knife itself. Adam took the box from him and moved it back to the closet, looking surprised when he felt the weight of the box, before he moved back so that he was standing in front of Kris. Without a word, he put his hands on Kris’s hips and walked him backwards until his legs bumped into the bed. Once that had happened, he motioned for Kris to sit, dropping to his knees once he had.

Ignoring Kris’s look, Adam untied Kris’ shoes and set them to the side. Above him, he just knew that Kris was either rolling his eyes at how neat he insisted on being or he was smiling. Possibly both. Next were Kris’ socks and Adam’s lips twitched up into a small smile at the sight of what Kris jokingly called his hobbit feet. The first time he’d heard that, Adam had rolled his eyes and informed Kris that “I’ve seen worse, trust me.”

He pushed Kris back until he was on his back, making it easier for Kris to lift his hips without putting too much weight on his arms or side so that Adam could pull his jeans off. Before Kris could settle back down, Adam pulled down his black boxer briefs—which just wasn’t fair, Kris knew what those did to him—and tossed them over his shoulder.

Adam finally let Kris move so that he was stretched out along his side of the bed, though he stopped him before he could even think of making a move to slide beneath the sheets.

Kris frowned. “What—“

“You’re still thinking about it.” The way Kris flushed a bit at that and glanced to the right told Adam he was right. “So,” he smiled slowly, “I’m going to help you relax.”

Kris blinked and his lips turned up slightly in a smile that Adam had come to recognize long ago. “Oh.”

Of course that’s all he had to say. Adam shook his head even as he tugged his own shirt off so that he was in nothing but his jeans.

“Now,” Adam ordered, voice low as he climbed on top of Kris, making sure to hold himself up so that their bodies weren’t touching, “don’t move.” He grinned and leaned down, brushing his lips against Kris’s. It was instinctive now the way that Kris leaned up and into Adam’s touch, a small sigh escaping at the feel of Adam’s mouth.

Still, Adam didn’t allow anything but their mouths to touch. Making sure to keep any part of him from touching Kris, Adam lowered his mouth to Kris’s neck. Humming lightly, he began to trail his lips down over Kris’s collarbone and chest, pausing every now and then to bite down lightly, sucking until he’d left a mark.

Kris’s hips jerked up and he made a frustrated noise in the back of his throat when Adam arched his back up to keep the distance between them.

“Adam,” he groaned.

Rather than reply, Adam simply grinned and continued to mark Kris’s body in various spots. If he could, he’d find a way to write out ‘Property of Adam Lambert. Do not touch,’ on Kris.

Kris might kill him but it’d be worth it just to know that there would be no way anyone could ever deny that Kris was his.

He swirled his tongue across Kris’s hipbone, continuing until he had to pull away so that he could look up at Kris, waiting until Kris looked down at him to flash a smile at him. Kris’s answering smile disappeared as he gasped when Adam lowered his mouth, taking Kris’s dick into his mouth. He kept going until he felt Kris hitting the back of his throat and even then, he kept going, relaxing his throat after a few moments and then he lowered his mouth until he’d taken in as much of Kris as he could.

He pulled back slowly until just the head was in his mouth and he sucked lightly, humming a familiar tune as he did so.

Kris slid his hands into his hair and tugged slightly. “Adam.” He didn’t say anything else before he tightened his grip when Adam suddenly slid down again, sucking more firmly than he had before.

“Oh God.” Kris threw his head back and gripped the sheets as tightly as he could, twisting them in his grip. Adam pulled back to suck in a few breaths, wrapping a hand around Kris’s dick. He began to move his hand, twisting his hand on every down stroke. Kris made a choking sound in the back of his throat, arching up into Adam’s hand and whimpering slightly when the movement pulled at his side. Adam leaned up and traced along the edge of Kris’s lower lip with his tongue.

“Come on, Kris,” he breathed against Kris’s lips. “Come for me.”

It was as if Kris had simply been waiting for the words, Adam thought as Kris cried out, his eyes closed as he tensed and came, shaking slightly as he relaxed into the mattress.

Breathing heavily, Kris opened his eyes slightly, turning his head towards Adam. He smiled slowly, so relaxed that Adam thought he was going to just melt through the mattress. Instead, he slowly reached out and trailed a hand lightly down Adam’s chest.

Adam shook his head and wrapped a hand around Kris’s wrist. “It’s okay,” he said. “Go to sleep.” He smiled because Kris was halfway there already.

“Hmm, okay,” Kris sighed, curling into Adam.

Adam smiled slightly; rubbing a hand up and down Kris’s back, as he listened to Kris’s breathing get deeper before he let himself slip into sleep.

He woke up to the feel of wet warmth wrapped around his dick. His eyes shot open and he sucked in a breath, spreading his legs to give Kris more room. Adam looked down and slid a hand into Kris’s hair, curling his fingers to scratch his scalp slightly. Kris moaned at the feel and pressed himself lower, taking more of Adam into his mouth.

Kris pulled back, sliding out from under Adam’s hand and crawling up until he was straddling Adam’s waist. Kris didn’t hesitate as he moved back and lifted himself slightly.

“Kris—“

He shook his head and slid down, his breath hitching at the feel of Adam entering him.

“Fuck,” Adam groaned as he realized that Kris must have been up awhile, preparing himself for this.

Lips tilting up into a slight smile, Kris braced his hands against Adam’s chest and began to move. Adam slid his hands up and over Kris’s thighs until he was able to settle his hands around Kris’s waist. As Kris thrust his hips down, Adam thrust up, bringing them together. He let out a shaky breath at the feel of nothing separating him and Kris. They’d only stopped using condoms a few months ago and it was still a jolt to slide into Kris and feel nothing but Kris.

His hands tightened on Kris’s hips and he knew that there’d be bruises there by the end of the day.

Kris tilted his head back as he began to move faster, the small hitches in his breath a sure sign that he was close.

“Harder,” he said, his fingers curling when Adam shifted his grip on Kris’s hips slightly, snapping his hips up harder than before. Lifting his eyes to Kris’s, he slid one hand over to wrap around Kris’s dick. He began to jerk Kris off, timing each pump of his fist so that he was thrusting in on each up stroke of his hand. Kris tensed, flexing around Adam and tilting his head forward before leaning down as Adam lifted up, using his elbows to brace himself.

It wasn’t long before Kris shouted against Adam’s mouth, arching his back and then biting down on Adam’s lower lip. Adam pushed up and then twisted until he was able to switch their positions. He only stopped long enough to adjust their positions, making sure to be careful of Kris’ side even as he hooked his arms beneath Kris’s legs. Kris took the hint and spread his legs wider, wrapping his legs around Adam as well as he could.

Adam used the headboard to hold himself up with one hand so that he wasn’t bending Kris in half. He wouldn’t hurt Kris anymore than he already was. His other hand resumed its spot on Kris’s hip. It only took a few more thrusts before Adam tensed, falling forward slightly as he came, Kris’s name the only thing he said.

He carefully pulled out of Kris, letting Kris lower his legs shakily before he let himself fall to the side with a low moan. “What was that for?” he asked, turning his head to look at Kris.

Kris grinned. “Last night.” When Adam raised an eyebrow, he laughed. “Taking care of me.”

Adam returned Kris’s grin with one of his own. “You really don’t have to thank me for that, you know. Not that I’m going to object if you want to have sex each time that I do.”

Kris snorted and hit him though there wasn’t much force behind it. “Pervert.”

“Yeah, you love me anyway.”

Scooting closer, Kris nodded. “That I do,” he murmured. As he closed his eyes, he made a mental note to call Sam and Dean later and tell them what had happened.

 

~*~*~

 

“You did what?” Dean demanded, glancing over at Sam, who was watching him with a raised eyebrow. “Kris, are you insane?”

“Dean,” Kris sighed, “you knew that I was going.”

“Well, I didn’t think you’d get stabbed while you were there.”

“What?” Sam asked, straightening in the passenger seat. Dean ignored him and pressed down on the gas pedal. “We’re nearly there, about two hours out.”

It was easy to picture Kris nodding.

“Okay. We’ll be here. I’m pretty sure Adam won’t be letting me go back there on my own any time soon.” In the background, Dean was pretty sure he heard Adam shout an agreement and he smirked.

“Good. I feel like we’re teenagers again and you’re getting kidnapped again.”

“That happened once,” Kris muttered.

“Once every single time we were in town.”

“So, really, when you think about it, it was all your fault,” Kris decided. Dean snorted.

“Just do me a favor and don’t go back there today,” Dean said, getting back to the subject. “We can go over everything when we get there and then get started on checking it all out.”

“Okay, sounds like a plan. I’ll see you when you get here.”

“I’m going to kick the crap out of you if we get there and you’re gone.”

Kris laughed. “Yeah, yeah. Bye, Dean.” He was still laughing when he hung up.

Dean shook his head as he slid his phone back into his jacket.

“So what did Kris do?”

“Genius went to the house and ended up fighting the shifter.” Off of Sam’s groan, Dean nodded. “Exactly. Even if he didn’t know the shifter was there, I don’t know what he was thinking going there without back up.”

“We knew that he would.”

“Yeah, that’s what he said. Just because I knew he would, doesn’t mean that I like it.” Dean narrowed his eyes when a spot in the next lane opened up and he quickly moved over, smirking when he looked in the rearview mirror to see the man swearing.

Christ, California drivers were crazy.

“Dean,” was all Sam said before Dean shot him a look.

“What? Aren’t you the one that kept telling me that we couldn’t stop Kris from doing what he wanted?”

Sam sighed. “I know. I just...” He shrugged. “I guess I just worry. I know he can take care of himself, I’ve seen it. Hell, Dad and Neil used to have us train together. But I still worry, especially with his life now. He’s in the public all the time, if anyone ever found out...” He trailed off.

“Yeah,” Dean agreed. “I know.”

If anyone ever found out about Kris’s life when it came to hunting, his career would be screwed. And that was without mentioning the panic that would happen when people began to realize the truth about the things that was out there.

The thought had him pressing down on the gas pedal even more, ignoring the look of understanding that Sam gave him as they began to go faster.

 

~*~*~

 

Sam had managed to convince Dean not to take the “completely easy shortcut” that he’d been told by the cashier at the gas station.

Dean, of course, was still muttering about it as they pulled into Kris and Adam’s driveway.

“Seriously, Dean, let it go,” Sam said.

“I’m just saying that we could’ve been here sooner if we’d gone that way.”

“Or we’d have ended up on the other side of the city, calling Kris for directions and he’d have laughed his ass off at you.” Sam barely kept from sighing as they walked up to the door.

Dean gave him a look as he knocked on the door. “Shut up, Sam.” He turned around just as the door swung open. “Hey, midget.”

“I hate you,” Kris told him even as he pulled Dean into a hug and then stepped to the side to let him and Sam in. He made a face when Dean simply grinned and walked towards the kitchen. Sam shook his head and hugged Kris.

“Good to see you, man.”

“Like I said, one day it won’t be because of a job.” Kris tilted his head back. “Did you get taller?”

Sam laughed and rolled his eyes. “Did Dean bribe you to say that?” he asked.

Kris grinned. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

Sam watched as Kris’s grin brightened at something behind him and he just knew that Adam had walked in. He smiled when he turned around to see Adam walking into the room. He looked a hell of a lot better than he had the last time that Sam had seen him; of course, the last time he’d seen him was after Adam had been possessed. Since then, he’d talked to Adam a number of times over the phone and had, reluctantly admitted to thoroughly checking into him back when he’d first found out that he and Kris were rooming together in Hollywood week—he’d had to make sure there was nothing supernatural about him after all.

“Adam,” Sam greeted.

“Hey, Sam,” Adam held out a hand and then laughed when Sam snorted and hugged him instead, “how was the trip?”

“Dean nearly took the short cut that the cashier at the gas station gave him but other than that, good.”

“Oh, they’re fantastic when it comes to those.” Adam nodded. “Can’t go wrong with asking them for directions.”

“I told you,” Dean said as he walked back into the entryway. “But, no, the people who live and work here couldn’t possibly know what they’re talking about.” Dean smirked when Sam groaned.

“You had to mention that when he was close by, didn’t you?”

The corner of Adam’s mouth lifted in a half smile. “Obviously,” was all he said. Dean laughed and slapped a hand on Adam’s shoulder.

“I knew I liked you.”

Sam narrowed his eyes. “Just because he took your side doesn’t mean anything.”

“Sammy was always a sore loser,” Dean confessed looking like he was trying not to let Sam hear him. “One time, Kris beat him at Operation and I thought he was going to lock him in the trunk.”

“Oh, I was not!”

“I feared for my life,” Kris deadpanned.

“I hate all of you,” Sam decided.

Kris laughed. “Come on, I’ll get you guys something to drink, we can catch up and then we can get on to talking about the shifter because we all know by the end of catching up, Dean’s going to be dying to go looking for it.”

“Damn right. It’s time to put an end to this bitch.”

 

~*~*~

 

Dean studied the knife briefly and frowned, shaking his head as he handed it over to Sam. “And it just left?” he asked. “Stopped fighting and ran out?”

“Went straight out the window,” Kris confirmed. “I didn’t get a chance to see where it might have been headed though. With all the noise we made from fighting, I figured it was just best to get out of there before some helpful neighbor decided to call the cops about a break in.”

Sam nodded. “Yeah, probably a good idea,” he agreed, turning the knife in his hands.

“Think you’ll be able to get anything from that?” Kris nodded at the knife.

“I don’t know. You were right, we’re going to have to research this one. Hopefully, Bobby will have something.”

“If that’s the knife he used to kill people, would you be able to use it to track him?” Adam asked, staring at the way Sam was twirling the knife.

Kris smiled. “Exactly. They might be able to.”

“We’ll have to try and isolate the traces of the shifter on here but if we figure out a way to do that then we just might be able to do it.” Sam nodded at Adam, who lifted a shoulder in a half shrug. “I’ll have to get started on that one but until then, we’ll keep it in the box.”

Nodding in agreement, Kris took the knife back and placed it in the box, making sure to lock it, slipping the key in his pocket. He pushed the box to the side, wincing slightly once more when he felt his ribs twinge.

“Okay,” he said. “Now let’s try figuring out where this thing could be.”

 

~*~*~

 

They’d spent a few hours going over everything that Kris had gathered before Kris and Adam had both had to go. Kris still had to finish figuring out all the details for his new album and Adam was going to start shooting for his latest music video.

It’d taken a bit to convince Dean that, no, he didn’t think the shifter was going to magically appear on the set of Adam’s video but Sam had managed and that had led them to walking around the neighborhood of Marie Akins, asking them if they’d seen anything out of the ordinary and assuring them that everything was going fine with the investigation and these were just follow up questions.

“I don’t get it,” Dean said, shaking his head as he easily picked the lock of Marie’s house while Sam made sure he stood at an angle that would completely block anyone’s view of what exactly Dean was doing. “Where the hell is this thing hiding?” He pushed open the door and slid inside, waiting until Sam had done the same to continue, “The neighbors all claim that he was normally such a nice guy but then, suddenly, he’s kind of a dick and then he turns into a psycho? How does no one find that strange?”

“People see what they want to see,” Sam told him as they began to walk through the house. Kris had gone straight to the back before but now was the time to see if the shifter had come back and gone through any of the rooms or left anything behind that might look like it didn’t belong.

“People are idiots.” Dean didn’t need to say anything else; he’d said plenty on the subject before in various cities.

“They’re not idiots, they’re just...blind.”

Dean looked like he wanted to make a blind joke—most likely using the contestant that had been on Kris and Adam’s season, Scott—but managed not to actually comment.

Neither of them said anything as they split up, keeping silent out of habit more than anything. Dean was looking through the kitchen and dining room and he’d probably look through the garage, where he sometimes managed to find the strangest clues.

Sam moved his gaze over all the various pictures that were scattered around the room and hung on the walls. In each of the pictures, Marie Akins, or people that he assumed were friends and family, were all smiling brightly or making faces at the camera. In one, she and Robert Greensburg had their arms wrapped around each other, their faces bright.

He let out a breath and very deliberately pushed away all thoughts of Jess, Stanford, and a completely different life. He shook his head and began searching through drawers and rifling through everything on top of the desk.

He was sure that the shifter hadn’t left anything out in the open for anyone to find but it didn’t hurt to look. So far, it had been smart but everything had to slip up at some point. The shifter wouldn’t be any different.

Making a sound of disgust, Sam turned away from the desk. There was nothing here.

“Nothing,” Dean announced as he walked into the room, almost as if he’d read Sam’s mind. “There’s not a damn thing here that’ll lead us to it.”

“Nothing in here either,” Sam told him. “It looks like we’re going to be stuck going outside and trying to figure out which direction it ran.”

They exchanged a doubtful look at that. If the shifter was smart enough not to leave anything for them to find in the house, there was no way that, this long after the murder, there would be anything outside for them to be able to use to track it down. Still, they both knew that it wouldn’t be enough to just think that, they’d still have to check.

It took close to an hour before they acknowledged that there was nothing out there for them.

“Well,” Dean said, tossing his jacket in the backseat, “that was a complete waste of time.”

“We had to make sure.”

Dean scowled despite the fact that he knew Sam was right. “Yeah,” was all he said as they got in the car. “Okay. Well, that’s one down. Let’s go check out the others.”

Sam leaned back and closed his eyes. Oh, this should be fun.

 

~*~*~

 

It was hours later and they were still no closer to finding the shifter than they had been when they’d started out earlier that day.

“Son of a bitch,” Dean said as they walked inside. He tossed his jacket over the back of a chair and dropped into it, tilting his head back.

Sam didn’t say anything, simply nodded in agreement even as he listened for some sign that Kris or Adam were home already.

“How the hell are we supposed to find this thing if it’s not going to leave anything behind?” Dean muttered as he stormed in the direction of the kitchen. Sam blew out a breath, knowing that once he entered the kitchen, Dean would already have the fridge open so that he could grab one of the beers that Kris had stocked up on—Dean drank a different beer than Kris and so did Sam so Kris always bought some when they were in town. He was proved right when he walked into the kitchen to find Dean holding a bottle out to him even as he grabbed a second.

“Thanks.”

Dean simply nodded and twisted the cap off, closing his eyes as he took a drink. Sam’s lips twitched as he did the same, pausing briefly when he heard footsteps coming down the hallway. Almost at the exact same time, he and Dean turned just as Kris walked in.

Kris stopped and blinked at them for a few moments before he nodded. “Hey.”

“Forget we were here, short stuff?” Dean asked with a grin. He raised an eyebrow when he didn’t get a smart ass reply but only got a curious look. “What’s up?”

Kris shook his head. “Just tired, that’s all,” he said. “I’m in some serious need of sleep.”

“If you can’t even get annoyed by Dean, then yeah, I’d say so.”

Shrugging, Kris grabbed a can of soda and popped it open, taking a few deep drinks. Sam frowned and glanced at Dean, who was watching Kris with a raised eyebrow.

“Dude, thirsty?”

Kris nodded and began to head back to the hall, offering them a small smile. “Yeah. And still tired so I’m going to bed, guys. See you tomorrow.”

“Night,” Sam said as Dean nodded at Kris. As soon as the sound of Kris’s footsteps had faded, Sam turned towards Dean. “Did Kris just drink a coke?”

“Guess becoming famous really does change a guy,” Dean said, lips twitching. “Maybe he ended up getting suckered into sponsoring them and now he likes it.”

Sam stared down the hallway. “Maybe.”

 

~*~*~

 

It was a couple of hours later when Adam walked in to find the lights off and the house quiet. He blinked in surprise, half expecting to have Kris or one of the Winchesters walk around the corner. He shook his head as he began to head down the hall towards his and Kris’s bedroom.

“Must’ve been one hell of a day,” he muttered to himself, glancing at the closed doors to the rooms that Sam and Dean were in. He couldn’t stop the smile that appeared on his face when he walked in to his and Kris’s room and saw Kris curled up on his side, back to the door, his breathing even.

He shook his head again. Kris must’ve really hated the meetings today, which most likely meant that they’d dragged on, if he was already asleep. Quietly, Adam stripped off his clothes, making sure to toss them into the hamper before he went into the bathroom and removed his makeup. Once he’d done that, he took a quick shower. He hated the feeling that he got when he left product in his hair overnight.

“Better,” he sighed to himself as he pulled on a pair of loose pants to sleep in and then brushed his teeth. Hell if he was going to just leave it so that his mouth would taste more like socks than usual in the morning.

Nightly routine done, Adam smiled as he turned off the light, carefully making his way through the dark and then slipping into bed behind Kris. He shifted onto his side and wrapped an arm around Kris’s waist, careful not to hold him too tightly so that he wouldn’t mess with Kris’s ribs. Pressing a kiss to Kris’ shoulder, Adam closed his eyes and let himself relax until he fell asleep.

When he woke up, Kris had turned over and pressed up against his front, leg in between Adam’s. Adam shifted his hips, letting Kris feel how hard he was. Kris hummed and lifted his other leg to wrap around Adam’s waist.

“Morning,” Kris said, voice slightly muffled against Adam’s neck. Adam’s hips jerked when Kris’s lips moved over his skin just before he bit down lightly. He grinned when Kris moaned.

“Morning.” Adam rolled them so that Kris was pinned beneath him. He rolled his hips, smirking when Kris fell back, arching his back. Adam paused and then stopped, staring down at Kris.

“What?” Kris asked, staring up at him.

Adam shook his head, moving off of Kris. “Nothing. But we both have meetings today and, as much as I hate cutting this short, yours starts before mine and we both know that if we get started now, you’ll be late.”

Kris smiled. “Good point.” He groaned as he stood and stretched, already heading towards the bathroom. “I get the shower first.”

 

~*~*~

 

Adam listened as the garage door closed and let out a breath at the sound of the car driving away before he turned to Sam and Dean.

“That’s not Kris,” he said.

Dean immediately leaned forward. “What?” he asked at the same time that Sam nodded and said, “I had a feeling.”

Off of Dean’s look, Sam shook his head. “He felt off last night when he came into the kitchen. Like he didn’t know how to react at the sight of us, remember?”

“And then he drank that coke,” Dean added. “Which I didn’t think much of because, hey, a guy can change. Especially when you haven’t seen him in a long time.” He shook his head and shoved to his feet. “I should’ve suspected.” He looked over at Adam. “How do you know it’s not him?”

“When Kris told me about shapeshifters, he said that they look the way the person did when the shapeshifter touched them.”

Sam and Dean exchanged a look and then Sam nodded. “Yeah, that’s true.”

“You know that it stabbed Kris,” it wasn’t a question and Adam didn’t wait for a response before continuing, “but this morning, Kris didn’t have a scratch on him. Nothing that showed he’d been stabbed and his ribs were fine because he didn’t even flinch when I practically sat on him—don’t ask.”

“I’ve seen a demon in your body lick him, dude. I’m not going to be traumatized that you guys goof off in the bedroom,” Dean said.

“Jesus, Dean.” Sam rolled his eyes.

“What? I’m just saying.”

“Guys?” Adam interrupted. “Can we get back to the important stuff like Kris is missing and a freaking shapeshifter has taken his place? Because I’d like to get him back in one piece and with a pulse.”

“We’ll figure something out.” Sam ran a hand through his hair. “We’re just going to have to start by trying to figure out when it could’ve taken Kris and maybe that’ll lead us to its lair.”

“Be easier if the thing stuck to one area,” Dean sighed. “But that’d be just a little too obvious.”

“It’s never that easy.” Sam sat back in his chair and glanced up at Adam. “What do you have to do today?”

“Nothing.” Adam’s lips twitched when Sam and Dean both raised their eyebrows. “I had to say something to get him out of the house, didn’t I?”

Dean grinned and glanced at Sam. “I really like him.”

 

~*~*~

 

“Okay, let’s think about this,” Sam said. “Kris had meetings pretty much all day, right?” He waited for Adam to nod before he continued, “Would he have gone anywhere during that time?”

Adam considered it. “Maybe for lunch but he’d have gone with people. Other than that, he wouldn’t have left until he was done for the day.”

“Which means the thing went for Kris at the end of the day before he came home,” Dean decided. “We were still out and you were doing the video which also means that there was no one to see the shifter when it was first getting used to Kris’s memories and thoughts.”

“It still wasn’t used to them when we saw it,” Sam said. “You surprised it, remember?”

Dean nodded. “Did you talk to it last night, Adam?”

“No, he...it was already asleep when I got home.”

“Taking Kris from anywhere near the record label means that it had to choose a spot close to that for its lair this time. Because dragging an unconscious American Idol is going to draw some attention.” Dean said it without any doubt because he just knew that if Kris had been taken, he’d have to be unconscious or else he’d have fought back enough to get someone’s attention which would have saved him from getting taken. Dean sighed. Or gotten someone killed.

“It’s too early to start looking for clues. We go now and we’ll be spotted.” Sam paused. “Unless we go in with Adam and we look around while he distracts the security guards somehow.”

Dean considered it and then slowly nodded. “Looks like you’re going to the office today, Adam.”

“Kris likes to park on the second floor of the parking garage,” Adam told them. “He said there’s usually more open spots there.”

Sam nodded. “Okay, so what we’ll need to do is see if we can get to the security office. If you can distract the guards long enough, we might be able to get to the tapes from yesterday.”

“How do we know the footage from yesterday isn’t on the tapes that they’re using today?” Dean asked.

“They separate them by day. It’s easier to keep track of. I don’t know if they separate them by floor so once we get in, we grab anything that has yesterday’s date.”

“How are we going to watch these?” Dean asked. “I mean, yeah, we’ve got TVs in our rooms—distracting, by the way, dude—but we’re not going to have any way to watch tapes.”

“I’ve got a movie room. I made sure there was a VCR in there in case there was some movie I couldn’t find on DVD.”

“There’s movies not on DVD?”

“Shocking, I know.” Adam glanced towards the garage door. “Let me finish getting ready and I’ll take you to the offices.”

“Are you sure you can get us in?”

Adam grinned. “The guy working the desk today has a thing for me. Some flirting and talking about how a couple of my friends are really into the security field and he’ll want to give you a tour.”

“Maybe he’ll even get a thing for Dean,” Sam said, a small smirk on his face.

Adam raised an eyebrow. “Actually, he’s got a thing for tall guys with dark hair,” he said, gesturing to himself and looking pointedly at Sam. Sam’s eyes widened as Dean snorted.

“Always knew the fact that you’re a giant would come in handy, Sammy.”

“Shut up,” Sam muttered, narrowing his eyes.

“Just don’t forget to bat your eyes at him.”

“I’m telling him that he’s just your type,” Sam threatened as Adam walked back to his room.

Adam shook his head, determinedly pushing the worry twisting his stomach as he walked into the room and stared at the bed for a few moments.

It no longer mattered that he wasn’t trained to be a hunter. If they were going to do this without alerting the shifter that anything was going on, he was going to have to work with Dean and Sam and use his connections in any way that he could.

He let out a long breath and walked to the closet, pulling out a pair of black jeans that he knew for a fact caused guys to stare at his ass.

“Showtime,” he said.

 

~*~*~

 

Adam smiled brightly, not bothering to hold back the way he usually did as he walked up to the desk. “Hi, Evan,” he said. Next to him, he felt Dean shake with laughter when Evan looked up and promptly fumbled the grip he had on the pen he’d been holding.

“Adam! Hi,” Evan smiled, “I thought you weren’t working today. I didn’t see you on the list of people coming in.”

“Well, that’s because I’m not on it,” Adam leaned forward. “But a couple of my friends are visiting and, well, they’re looking into law enforcement and so I figured I’d bring them here and see if you’d let them look around the office at least.”

“Oh,” Evan glanced at Dean and Sam. “Well, I mean, it’s not like I’m a cop or anything.”

Sam stepped forward. “It’s more like we’re into private security. So this is actually pretty perfect to give us a few ideas.” He smiled and Adam was grateful for all his acting experience as he avoided looking at Dean and kept a straight face when Sam flashed his dimples.

Those suckers were lethal. He just bet Sam could get whatever he wanted with just a few well-timed smiles when he put his mind to it.

Evan seemed to consider it. “Well, okay, I can show you around. Just don’t tell my boss.”

“If your boss says anything, I’ll take the blame,” Adam assured him. He wasn’t about to get the poor guy fired because of what they were doing.

A flash of relief appeared on Evan’s face before he nodded and led them into the office, pointing a few things out, including the spot where they put the old tapes. Nodding at Dean, Sam steered Evan away from there, making sure their backs were to Dean and began asking him questions about what kind of cameras were used and where did they have them installed. Glancing over his shoulder, Adam made sure to stand behind Evan so that if he did turn, he wouldn’t see the way Dean was quickly and carefully loading all the tapes for the previous day into his backpack.

As soon as he was done, he joined the others on the other side of the room. “So, anyone ever get all paranoid about the cameras near their offices or anything like that?” he asked, signaling that he was done.

“We’ve had a few of those.” Evan shrugged. “It usually turns out that they’re complaining because they’re trying to hide something.” He turned. “You guys want to see anything else?”

Dean and Sam glanced at each other and then shook their heads. “No, you were very helpful, Evan.” Dean smiled at him as Sam nodded.

“Really, more than you know.”

Adam paused and smiled back at Evan. “Thanks, Evan. See you next time.”

They didn’t pause to say anything to the other guard at the door, simply nodding before Adam led them to the parking garage.

“Are we going to be able to find anything?” Adam asked as they climbed the stairs to the next floor.

“Maybe,” Dean said. “Kris parks on the same floor if he can and from what you said, he tries to park in the same general area if possible. That means that there could be something, even if it doesn’t seem important, there.”

Sam paused and pulled Adam to a stop. “You should know that there’s a good chance we won’t find anything and, if we do, it most likely won’t be anything good, right?” He let out a breath. “Because, to be blunt, I don’t see Kris getting taken without a fight. So if we do find something, it might be blood, it might a weapon. Hell, we might not find anything at all. You ready for that?”

Adam stared at him for a few moments. “It doesn’t matter if I am or not. It’s Kris so I’m going.”

“It matters,” Dean told him. “You decide to help us and you’re not ready, you might hesitate. You hesitate and something could go wrong.”

“I wouldn’t hesitate to hurt that thing.”

“And what if you’re not sure if it’s Kris or the shifter?” When Adam didn’t answer, Dean nodded. “Exactly. If it comes down to it, you’re going to have to be sure and not hesitate.”

“I won’t.” Adam straightened. “Look, I’m not trained and I know that, if anything, I’d be mostly useful as a distraction. But I love Kris and that means, whether I’m ready or not, I’m involved. And it’s not like this is something a person can be ready for when they first get involved.” He turned and started walking towards the area where Kris usually parked. “So, no, I may not be ready but I’m here and nothing’s changing that. So, let’s go.”

Dean nodded, one corner of his mouth lifting slightly. “All I needed to hear.”

Adam stopped, turning to stare at him. After a few moments, he shook his head. “Ass.”

“Wasn’t going to risk it,” was all Dean told him.

“Could you two continue this later?” Sam interrupted. “We’ve got leads to check for.”

They didn’t say anything else as they continued, Adam leading the way since this was the area he knew more about. He gestured to an area that was almost exactly between the elevators and stairs.

“He likes to park here if he can.”

“Keeps his options open on exits,” Sam noted, checking the distance between the stairs, elevators, and parking spots.

“Okay, start looking for...well, anything,” Dean said, pulling out his flashlight as Sam did the same. Before Adam could move, Sam tossed him an extra one that he pulled from his waistband.

They’d been looking for nearly twenty minutes when Sam swore. “This might’ve been where he was parked.”

“What is it?” Adam stood and started heading towards him.

“Blood. There’s some here and then there’s a trail of drops that head towards the right and stop.” He dropped to the ground and aimed his flashlight under the car. “Nothing over here, so I’m assuming it stopped because he got put in his car.”

“Fuck,” Dean muttered. “Is it here?”

“What?” Sam twisted to look at him.

Dean focused on Adam. “Is the shifter here?”

Adam’s eyes lit in understanding. “Yeah. Kris had meetings today and I reminded him...it about them this morning.”

“Then there’s a chance the car is around here and we can look inside it for anything.”

“If he took Kris in the car, how far could he have taken him?”

“We’ll find out. I can get into the LAPD system and check the traffic cameras to see which direction it went in.”

“Be faster if we split up but I don’t want to have to shout to alert you guys and I don’t want to wait for you to get to me before I bust into Kris’s car.”

Sam and Adam nodded. “I’ve got a better idea,” Adam said. He reached in to his pockets and pulled out his keys. “I have a spare key to Kris’s car, complete with alarm.” Even as Dean and Sam grinned, Adam held up the remote and pushed the lock button, turning when he heard a beeping noise coming from the opposite direction. They repeated this until they had managed to find Kris’s car. Glancing around to be sure that they hadn’t drawn any attention to themselves, Adam unlocked the car and then popped the trunk. Off of Sam’s look, Adam shrugged. “If the shifter used the car, I doubt that it left Kris in the backseat where anyone could see him. Figured the trunk was the best bet.”

“Might be more ready than you thought,” Dean told him.

“Blood in here too,” Sam announced from where he’d leaned forward to look in the trunk. He pulled back. “That thing definitely took Kris somewhere.”

“Well, what are we waiting for then, Sammy? Let’s go hack into LAPD. And by we, I mean you.”

Even as Sam rolled his eyes and Adam shook his head at the two of them, they began to walk faster, the idea of an actual lead giving Adam a bit of hope that they’d find Kris soon.

 

~*~*~

 

Kris jerked at the rope holding him, frowning when there was no give. He leaned back against the pillar he was tied against and shook his head.

Well, now he understood why the shifter had just taken off after hitting him.

He twisted his wrists again, wincing when the rope bit into his skin, rubbing against the raw area.

He had no idea how long he’d been unconscious but he was hoping that it hadn’t been long. The longer that he’d been out, the more time the shifter had had to adjust to being him and the more likely it was that it could get the others to believe it was him.

Of course, with the way this thing worked, Kris was guessing that it would slip up fairly early on. It never seemed to last for more than a couple of days.

On the other hand, that also meant that he’d be going after Adam soon. Though with Dean and Sam there as well, it wouldn’t find things as easy as before.

“You’re very persistent, you know.”

Kris found it extremely disturbing to look up and see his own face smirking at him. “Well, what can I say? It’s one of my better qualities.” Damn, he needed a lesson in witty banter while being held hostage.

“I don’t see why you’re so nervous. I’m liking your life.” The shifter smiled. “Well, my life now.” The shifter crouched down, making sure to stay out of kicking range. “You’ve got it all, don’t you? A career doing what you love, fame, fortune, and a man that loves you completely.”

At the mention of Adam, Kris grit his teeth and jerked at the ropes. “I swear to God if you touch him—“

“Little late for that.” It smiled. “He was very happy to see you this morning,” the thing said, leaving it to Kris’s imagination of just what exactly that could mean.

God, that could mean anything from a smile and a kiss to sex.

Kris really hoped it meant a smile and a kiss but judging by the smirk on the shifter’s face, he really couldn’t be sure.

“I’ll make sure you’re more comfortable later. For now, I just needed to be sure you were actually awake.”

Smiling, the shifter stood. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, my lunch break is almost up and I had to sneak out of a restaurant just to come check on you.”

Kris watched as the shifter walked out, a smile on his face, and thought of what it could do if it decided that it didn’t want his life anymore.

Twisting his wrists again, Kris ignored the way the rope seemed to burn against his skin. He needed to get out of there.

 

~*~*~

 

“Anything?” Adam asked as he continued to fast forward through the tape he was watching. He had thought that it would be pointless to look at the tapes during the day when he could have just put in the tape for around the time when Kris was supposed to have left but he had to admit that some of it was pretty interesting.

“Not yet. But then I’m not sure what time frame to narrow it down to.” Sam glared at the screen.

“Take a pill, Samantha. We’re nearing the time of day when Kris would be getting off.

“Good. The only thing I tried nearly got me booted out of the system. Whoever did it, made sure that they were thorough in blocking this stuff off.”

“Stop the tape,” Dean said suddenly. “Did you see that?” He leaned forward. “Rewind that a little.”

Dean slapped the table. Off of Adam’s slightly disturbed look, he pointed at the TV. “The eyes, looks like camera flare. We got him.”

“Thing was waiting for Kris.” Sam shook his head.

“Why hasn’t it come for me yet?” Adam suddenly asked. “Not that I’m complaining but doesn’t it usually go after the person’s boyfriend, girlfriend, or whatever within the first day?”

“Couple of days actually,” Sam corrected. “What time does it say?”

As Dean said the time, Adam scrubbed his hands over his face. He rolled his shoulders and then continued to fast forward.

“What are you doing?” Dean raised an eyebrow.

“I want to see what happened.” The look that Adam gave him clearly said not to argue the point and he turned back to the TV, only hitting play when he saw Kris appear on the screen. Adam frowned and then pushed himself to his feet, unable to stop himself from pacing as he watched the shifter jump on Kris from behind. He watched as Kris fought the thing only to lose the fight when his head smacked against the edge of one of the cement pillars hard enough to knock him out. It was suddenly very easy to see where the blood had come from.

Adam fought not to gag when he watched the shifter begin to change until the large man that it had been, disappeared until it was just Kris standing over the body of his Kris. They watched as Kris was tossed in the trunk before the car drove away.

“This thing isn’t afraid to be caught on tape.” Dean pushed to his feet. “It didn’t even seem to care that it might get caught on camera.” He shook his head. “And how the hell did security miss that?” he demanded. “One of the label’s artists gets knocked around and taken by something that turns into them and not a single person decides to help.”

“People only see what they want to see, Dean.” Sam smiled slightly. “But that won’t matter for much longer; I’ve got the footage from last night.”

It didn’t take long for the shifter to reach its destination and Dean rolled his eyes. “Seriously, do they have some sort of hard on for manholes and sewers?”

“It’s easy for them to get to. We considered that that’s what it was using, remember? We just couldn’t find one near the other places.”

“Do we have time to go today?”

Adam shook his head. “Not really. The meetings are almost ever and that means that it’ll head back here. And while I’d love to suggest that you guys go and get Kris, I’d rather not be left alone with that thing so that it can change its mind and decide to start carving me up because the lifestyle of an American Idol just doesn’t work for him.”

“Or it’s decided that it likes Kris’s life so much that it’s decided to keep him alive so that it can continue to live it.”

Adam stared at Dean. “Thank you. That’s comforting.”

“It should be, it means he’s still alive for us to find.”

Adam let out a breath and nodded. “Yeah, good point.” They glanced at the door when they heard a door slam and the shifter yelled out from the living room.

“It’ll know that you two are hunters I bet. That means it’s going to expect you to talk about the hunt with it. So, Dean, turn the channel and Sam, look frustrated.”

“Really not a problem,” Sam muttered as Adam shouted out their location even as he turned off the VCR and hid the tapes and turned it to a movie marathon on AMC that looked like something Dean would watch.

“Hey,” the shifter said from the doorway. “What are you guys doing?”

Adam gave the shifter one of his best smiles as he nodded at Sam. “Sam’s getting nowhere with the case about the shifter and Dean and I are watching...what the hell are we watching?”

“Dude, how do you not recognize _True Lies_? You suck,” Dean told him, not looking away from the TV. Adam rolled his eyes at the shifter, fighting not to let the grin disappear when it leaned over and kissed him.

“Hi.” Adam settled back on the bed. “What are you doing home already?”

“Meetings finished early. How’d yours go?”

Adam rolled his eyes. “The usual. Just a shorter version.”

“You win, I’m done for the night,” Sam said, pushing the laptop away. “At least, I’m done for now.”

“Finally. Come on, we’re going to raid the kitchen and bring up something awesome for dinner. You guys want anything?” Dean asked. It was a long shot but they were hoping that the shifter would slip up in front of Adam since he wasn’t a hunter. If they could eliminate having to search for the exact spot that it had taken Kris then they were going to try.

“I’m good,” Adam shook his head, “You, Kris?”

The shifter shook its head. “Nope.” Once they’d left the room, the shifter turned a mischievous look at Adam before crawling over and straddling Adam’s hips, pressing down against him.

Adam’s eyes widened. “Kris?”

“We haven’t done anything more than kiss all day,” the shifter breathed, pressing its lips against Adam’s neck and, hell, it was entirely unfair that this thing knew all about him and knew when to use his weak spots against him. Only Kris was supposed to be able to do that.

The thought had Adam stiffening and he pulled back from the shifter, forcing himself to keep his face neutral as he stared up at it.

“What?” it asked. “You’re always up for some kissing and now not even that?”

“Well, maybe he’d rather be kissing the real thing instead of the cheap imitation.”

Adam’s head snapped to the side and he couldn’t stop the smile from taking over. “Kris,” he started only to be cut off when the shifter wrapped a hand around his throat. Before he could even begin figuring out what would happen, he was lifted and tossed in the general direction of the desk before the shifter turned and launched itself at Kris. “Shit.”

Kris grunted when the shifter landed, making sure that all of its weight settled on top of him as they fell back into the hallway. He winced when it straight to his ribs. “You know, considering you have my memories, you really should’ve tried harder to make the knots of that rope tighter,” he said, unable to keep the taunt out of his voice.

“Would one of you, I don’t know, move so I can see which stupid ass plaid shirt needs to be shot?” Adam demanded from his spot in the room.

Of course, the shifter would have to be wearing the same plaid shirt that Kris was. Shit. He bit back another curse when he finally managed to push the shifter off of him and into the other room.

Except that’s where Adam was. Hell, he hoped Dean and Sam noticed the commotion soon. The way the house was laid out, it was hard to hear what was going on upstairs whenever a person was in the kitchen.

Kris grinned when the shifter moved backwards thanks to a punch from Adam. It was only then that Kris was able to notice the gun on the desk. It was Sam’s and he knew that that meant silver and blessed bullets.

All of this seemed to flash through his mind as he dodged the shifters’ hands. Vaguely, he could hear Dean and Sam running up the stairs but he forced himself not to pay any attention to the other men in the room as he and the shifter continued to fight. The shifter’s plaid matched his, ripped and dirty.

“Adam,” he said through gritted teeth, “take the shot if you’ve got it.” There was no answer but Kris was going to take that as an agreement. He could see Dean pulling out his gun though he didn’t know which was Kris and which was the shifter.

The shifter shoved Kris down so that they fell out of sight. They struggled and then Kris groaned when the shifter managed to move around so that he could slam a knee directly into his ribs.

The shifter stood and backed away from him. “Adam, now, while he’s down.” Kris sucked in breath when he heard the safety being taken off.

“One thing,” Adam said. “How’d you stop him?”

“He’s not knocked out, Adam, he’s just stunned. Shoot him!”

Kris didn’t bother to wait to hear whatever Adam might respond. He stood up and then spun towards Adam when a gunshot rang out. It was followed by three more and Kris turned to see the shapeshifter dropping to the ground.

Ignoring the way his side was screaming at him, Kris jumped over the corner of the bed and in to Adam’s arms when Adam tossed the gun on to the bed. Relaxing, he closed his eyes and listened to the way Adam’s heart pounded.

“I missed you,” Adam’s mouth pressed against the top of Kris’s head, “Christ, it was barely a day but I missed you.”

Kris opened his eyes and pulled back enough to smile up at him.

“Nice one, Adam. Didn’t know you could shoot.” Dean stared down at the shifter, ignoring the couple as he moved into the room and crouched next to it.

“No pulse.” He nodded. “Since Sam and I were pretty useless when it came to fighting the son of a bitch, we’ll clean up.” He looked back up at Adam and nodded in acknowledgement before going to make sure that they’d have what they needed to salt and burn the shifter.

“How’d you know you weren’t shooting me?”

For a few moments, Adam didn’t say anything, simply enjoyed the quiet with his boyfriend, before he finally spoke up,

“It’s going to sound completely cheesy—“

“You are completely cheesy.”

“Can I finish? It’s cheesy but it was your eyes. No one looks at me the way you do and when you kept looking at me while fighting, I knew.” He grinned. “Besides, it wouldn’t answer when I asked how it had stopped you. Kept saying him instead of it.”

“Christ, get a room,” Dean snapped as he walked back in, a tarp under his arm.

“Dude, we’re in their house,” Sam pointed out as he walked in behind Dean.

“And?”

Sam rolled his eyes. “Never mind.”

 

~*~*~

 

“What did I tell you about getting kidnapped?” Dean asked Kris a few days later.

“I still say that’s your fault. This stuff never happens to me when you’re not in town.” Kris grinned. “What’s the next job?” Only the day before, Kris had taken them to the shifter’s lair and they’d gone through it, checking to see if there was anything there that would show whether there were other victims they didn’t know about. They’d found souvenirs from previous victims but that had been it and it hadn’t taken long before they’d each taken a turn at destroying something that was part of the lair.

“Sam said it’s looking like D’jinn. We’re going to be checking it out.”

“Be careful.”

“We will,” Sam said as he walked up behind Kris. “That goes for you too.”

“Oh, no need to worry. He’s not going to be out of my sight for awhile,” Adam assured them.

Kris rolled his eyes, a small smile on his face. The shifter had been dead for days now but Adam was still insisting on keeping Kris within his sight as much as possible, work be damned. It’d led to a lot of rearranging of his schedule, a few promises for some extra TV appearances and who knew what else but Adam had managed to clear his schedule for the next few weeks.

“Sounds kinky.” Dean smirked.

“Pervert,” Kris told him. Then he laughed and hugged Dean. “Drive safe.”

“Like I’d risk hurting my baby.” It was Dean’s way of saying that he’d make sure to be careful.

“We’ll call so Dean can pretend to not be checking up on you and checking in ,” Sam told him when he pulled Kris into a hug. He stepped back and then pulled Adam into a hug. “See you around, Adam. Don’t go running off on any hunts.”

Adam snorted. “Believe me, not happening.”

Dean snickered and elbowed Adam. “Retired already. Loser.”

“With a house and a pool and a pool table and a hot tub...”

“Fuck you.”

“Not my type, Dean.”

Kris sighed as Dean and Sam got in the Impala and, with one last wave, drove off. He glanced back when Adam nudged him. “Hmm?”

“What’s wrong?”

“I keep thinking of the people that went missing because that thing wanted to be them for just a day. Just one day where he could have the spotlight and say that he’d tried to save the victim but just couldn’t get there in time.”

“Hey,” Adam turned Kris so that they were facing each other. “You told me when I first found out about this stuff that sometimes there was no reason. It wasn’t a ghost trying to find closure or whatever. Sometimes things just happened. This? This just happened, Kris. You can’t save everybody, no matter how much you wish you could.”

“I know,” Kris agreed. “That doesn’t stop me from thinking about it.”

Adam slid his hands up and under Kris’s shirt. “I think I can help with that.”

Kris slowly smiled and began pushing Adam back into the house. “Yeah?” He tilted his head back, shutting the front door behind him. “Prove it.”

**Author's Note:**

> Fantastic art by chosenfire28 can be found here: http://chosenfire28.livejournal.com/177742.html


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